C.M. "Cash" Coolidge
Born in Antwerp, New York to abolitionist Quaker farmers, Coolidge was known by the nickname "Rash" to friends and family. While he had no formal training as an artist, his natural aptitude for drawing led him to create cartoons for his local newspaper when in his twenties. He is credited with creating Comic Foregrounds, life-size cutouts into which one's head was placed so as to be photographed as an amusing character, common at midways and carnivals.
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| Cassius Marcellus Coolidge - "A Friend in Need" a.k.a. "Dogs Playing Poker" c.1910 |
Important Works:
All were painted in the early 1900s- A Bachelor's Dog
- A Bold Bluff
- A Friend in Need
- Pinched With Four Aces
These images have been seen by almost everyone, but it seems like no one really cared enough to look up the artist. That seems to be all too common in today's society, don't you think? The artist is almost always overlooked.
ReplyDeleteThe dog on the left seems to know that he has the upper hand of the game but is out of chips, the dog next to him smoking a cigarette is smiling because he already knows who's going to win the game, the dog is the middle he has a sad serious face he's all in but he's looking at the dog to the right of him thinking that he's going to win just because he has more chips than anyone else, and finally the dog to the right has a big smile on his face because he thinks that he is going to win the poker game, all the dogs seem to be drinking alcohol and smoking rather cigars,cigarettes, or tobacco out of a pipe. It's a very well done painting the artist must have got the idea from an old poker game he had with a couple of his friends once.
ReplyDeleteAll the dogs look like there just relaxing and having a game of poker but some of the dog are really getting in to the game they all have a mood or exsprsion on there faces but its a really good peace.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, dogs playing poker is a classic. I've seen different variations of these pictures all my life, almost everywhere I go. I love them, and I think they're very creative and funny. His nicknames are kind of funny, "Cash" and "Rash". I wonder where he got those . . . XD It says he had no formal training as an artist, does that mean he was self taught? If so, he's pretty good for someone who was taught by "a very ignorant person indeed." XD I don't understand the painting's name, though. "A Friend in Need", what does that have to do with dogs and poker? When I think of that name I don't think about dogs playing poker, I think about Toy Story, "A Friend In Me"
ReplyDeleteAlmost everyone recognizes the dogs playing poker. For years there has been films or cartoons portraying this painting. It also shows as if I can understand how the dogs are feeling by their face expressions. And there are little details on the table. I'm very amused at how he never had "no formal training" to draw like this.
ReplyDeleteI think C.M. coolidge is just a bunch of dogs playing a card game, although it shows that the dogs reminds how people just like to hang out with friends, and come together of what they are going to do. That's what I think about this coolidge.
ReplyDeleteI like much thought he put into this painting. When you really study it, it has lot of different things going on other then if you just look at it quickly.
ReplyDeleteI think this subject is symbolic to people because in this picture I see a bunch of dogs playing poker. But when I see this picture it reminds me of my family at poker night because there is always that one person that cheats like that dog whos holding the card under the table. Thats what I see but then again I love the colors that he used it makes the painting pop out more i think
ReplyDeleteI think no one really seem to care bout the artist or art work but yet some people just had the picture hanging in there home not knowing who really painted or drawn the picture like the the poker dogs I see t hat picturein almost everyone that plays poker and I really didnt care who made the painting but now its like i whish i had knew that before.
ReplyDeleteThis picture is to me just a random funny picture ,to some people they will see a lot more but all I see is dogs playing poker with human environments and characteristics. It doesn't make me think at all but I'm sure some people think a lot differently
ReplyDeleteThis painting is very popular .
ReplyDeleteI've seen this in cartoon , tv shows & movies . This picture is silly & fun all at once
This is defiantly one of the first works of art i recognized as a child. i never new the title, but it always gave me a smile
ReplyDeleteI've always seen this painting just about everywhere I've gone. And I truly enjoy its art work, it show class. To me it shows that most poker players are sly dogs, that are just after money, and to always win. And also it sparks another thought within my head that shows dogs, more like any animal is also human, that they deserve respect just as we humans, and non-humans do.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the paintings I've seen in so many movies and hanging in different stores, yet I never really took the time to look up who painted it. I have a much higher appreciation for it now!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved this picture with the dogs playing cards its interesting on how they look. The emotion they show playing cards is funny because you never really can tell what dogs are feeling but in this picture you can tell how they feel.
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